Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said the country needed the international community support it more, and claimed “far too little” help had been given to assist the government.
In an op-ed for the Japan Times, the prime minister said the assistance was needed as people in Sri Lanka may become discouraged and be “tempted” by autocratic forces, waiting to return to power at the next elections.
“We cannot fully turn the page on authoritarian rule, restore the full range of democratic freedoms and rebuild our economy in an inclusive way on our own. [...] We simply lack the resources to undertake the great task of reconstruction without assistance,” he said.
“So we need the world’s democracies to stand with us and support us, lest our people become discouraged and be tempted by the autocratic forces waiting in the wings to return to power in the coming parliamentary election,
“We need to demonstrate to our people that reconciliation, democracy, tolerance and the rule of law constitute the only route to long-term peace and shared prosperity. Sadly, the help that we have received so far is too little to enable my government to be as effective as it can and should be in rebuilding our country and resetting our strategic position in the world.”
See full op-ed here.
Speaking to parliament on Tuesday, the prime minister said he was satisfied with the government's progress so far, in achieving goals set out under President Maithripala Sirisena's 100-day programme.
Mr Wickremesinghe said his government had achieved in 88 days what former president Mahinda Rajapaksa could not achieve in 10 years.
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